The Kiddie Table
by FluffyZGiggler
Summary: Bella and Edward grew up together, always coming together for Christmas dinner, regardless of age or how much they like or don't like each other. Watch them grow up and maybe even fall in love, one holiday at a time. It's like summer camp, but with holiday cheer! Loosely based off of Love at the Christmas Table. Daily updates as we count down to Christmas! Feat. reader's stories!
1. December 20, 1991

I have a thing for Christmas movies. Like, the Hallmark Channel is my life (outside of prime time) during this time of the year. I love them. They're cheesy and ridiculous, and I love every second of them. They recently came out with _Love at the Christmas Table_, and while I enjoyed it, I felt it needed a bit more.

I'm hoping I will post something every day until Christmas (and maybe a few days after) as we watch these two grow up together, one Christmas at a time. And if I'm really daring and get some help, maybe even some smexy times. WHO KNOWS?!

December 20, 1991

"Edward dear, I'd appreciate it if you would sit nicely with Bella over there."

"I'm not sitting with _her_. She's a _girl_. A _baby_. I'm a big kid, and big kids don't have to sit with _babies_."

Edward's mother let out an exasperated sigh. They had only just moved to town, and their neighbors, Charlie and Renee Swan, had been nice enough to invite them over for a Christmas dinner. If only she could get her stubborn little boy to sit down and join their daughter for dinner.

"If you are nice to her, I'll let you open grandma and grandpa's present tomorrow. You won't have to wait till Christmas."

Yep. She'd relented and bribed her child with toys. And since she knew what her parents had bought for him, this was a definite feat indeed.

Edward looked suspicious for a moment before sticking his hand out. They shook hands and the agreement was set. He would be nice to her, and tomorrow Edward could open his present from his grandparents.

_I hope this doesn't make me a bad parent_.

The subject of their disagreement was sitting quietly at the card table that had been set up for them. Hopefully she hadn't heard the terms of their agreement. Even better would be a guarantee that Edward wouldn't tell her.

*| : - { ) }

"I'm not as little as you think," little Bella stated after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Oh really? How old are you, three?" Edward taunted.

"I'll have you know, I'm four and three quarters. I counted. My birthday's in three months. If you weren't so mean, I might invite you to my birthday party."

"Why would I want to go to a girly party? I'm six. Princess parties aren't cool for six year olds."

Bella giggled. "I'm not having a princess party. I had one of those last year. This year I'm having a Sesame Street party."

Edward was silent for a moment. "Well I'm too old for one of those too. I'm in the first grade, and first graders don't go to Sesame Street parties. "

And silence returned to the small table. Bella's friend Angela was supposed to be here with her, but she had to go to her aunt's Christmas party in Port Angeles instead. It would be so much more fun to have _her_ here instead of _Edward_.

"Mom and I made sugar cookies for dessert. I did the pretty ones. Mom's look like a Pollock. She calls them abshrakt."

"What's a Pollock?"

"He's this artist. I don't get what all the fuss is about. I could probably do it. He threw paint at stuff."

Edward laughed and threw a bit of gravy on the table. "Like this?"

Bella laughed. "Yeah, but with more colors. Add some cranberry sauce."

Bella threw some of the cranberry sauce on top. "Like that."

They laughed again, each adding a little more gravy and cranberry sauce to the table.

"I'm out of gravy," Edward sighed after a few minutes.

"There's more in the kitchen."

"We should sneak in the kitchen and get more," Edward whispered conspiratorially.

"We should."

"You first."

"Why do I have to go first? It's your idea," Bella complained.

"But I don't know where it is."

"I could tell you."

"No. It's your idea, you go first."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Then go!"

"I will."

"Now."

"Okay. Fine. I'm going."

Edward slunk under the table, Bella following after him. They crawled into the kitchen, using the most indirect route possible. They needed to be secret. Instead of going straight to the kitchen they went through the living room. The parents were in the direct route.

"Which one is it?" Edward asked when they finally reached the kitchen. They had been really cautious and took their time so they wouldn't be seen.

"I don't know. Go look."

He slowly lifted his head up to see what was in each of the fancy dishes laid out, his head bobbing up and down so they wouldn't be seen. It took a while, but he eventually looked at all of the dishes trying to find the gravy.

"It's not here," Edward whispered.

"What? Than where is it?"

"I don't know. It's your house."

"Maybe it's at the parents' table," Bella thought with a sigh, slinking down in defeat.

They were silent for a moment. And then they heard it.

"BELLA! EDWARD! What did you do to the table?! Get your butts over here right now!"

"We're in trouble," Edward stated.

They slowly got up and walked to the table.

"Care to explain this mess you left on the table, Bella?" Charlie, Bella's dad, asked her.

"We were making art. Like mommy's cookies," Bella explained.

Renee moaned.

And that's how they met! Have you or a lovely (wink wink) child around you done something so ridiculous the adults (wink wink) couldn't help but laugh? Let me know what it was and the ages of the individuals involved, and it might feature in the story! Stay tuned tomorrow, and we will see what happens next year!


	2. December 19, 1992

Wow! Love the responses and the stories! Not every story can be featured here, but some of them will. Keep them coming! I love reading them! I was going to do a bit about _The Nightmare Before Christmas_, which had just come out that year, but then I remembered this, did a little research, and it was just too good to be true.This story actually happened to me. My little brother and his friend did this… in July. Think about it.

Reminder, Bella is now 5 (and ¾…) and Edward is 7.

*| : - { ) }

December 19, 1992

"I hate this town. It's a week till Christmas and all it does is rain. I want snow!" Edward stated definitively. He slumped down into the beanbag chair behind him to watch another Christmas movie. Edward had wanted to watch _The Nightmare Before Christmas_, which he had brought with him, but Mrs. Swan had said that it was too scary for Bella. Instead they were watching _The Grinch_, which wasn't nearly as satisfying. At least they got to eat sugar cookies and drink chocolate milk.

"It doesn't snow much here. And the rain turns it into slush," Bella responded glumly.

"I wish we had snow."

"Me too."

Edward wiggled around in his beanbag chair a bit more. "How many of these things does your mom have?"

Each was sitting in their own chair, and another one was in the corner. Bella had two in her room.

"I think we have five or six. Mom says they remind her of when she was a kid and _match the day-koooor_." Bella added a funny accent at the end, sounding like what she thought people from England sounded like.

Edward looked over at her funny and laughed.

"Have you ever opened one up and looked inside?" he asked.

"Yep. There are lots of little foam beads inside."

"Can I see?"

Bella got up and looked around her chair for the zipper. She found it after a moment and slowly opened it up about an inch.

"See?"

Edward leaned over and looked inside. "Open it up more, I can't see it very well."

She shook her head. "Then all the beads get out."

"Oh."

Bella closed the zipper on her chair and sat back down. Sugar cookies and chocolate milk were long forgotten.

The movie ended, but neither got up to put in a new one. Bella almost got up a couple of times so Edward wouldn't sneak in _The Nightmare Before Christmas_, but decided not to at the last minute.

"What if we opened them up inside? Then it would be like Christmas. It would be snowing in your house!" Edward said quietly, the white noise of the TV in front of them.

Bella was silent for a moment as she thought about it. "I don't know. Where would we open them?"

"What about your room?" Edward offered.

"My room's too small."

Edward sighed.

"What about my mom's craft room?" Bella offered. "It's really big and has lots of space on the floor. Daddy made her clean it up for Christmas."

He sat up at that. "Good idea! Let's bring these ones up there, and we can get more if we need them."

They took their beanbag chairs and Bella led them upstairs, dragging her chair behind her. Once inside Renee's craft room they stopped, shut the door, and started to look for the zippers on their chairs. Edward found his first and unceremoniously dumped it all on the floor. Bella's chair soon followed.

Edward took a big handful and threw them up into the air. "Now it's Christmas," he stated.

Bella took her own handful and threw it into the air.

"I think we need more bags. There's not that much snow on the ground," Edward commented after they had spread the white pellets all over the room.

"There are two more in my room."

"Let's go get them." They shook off the Styrofoam beads that had gotten on their clothes and went to her room to retrieve the other two bags. Dumping them onto the floor, the "snow" was now almost four inches high.

Bella laid down and started making snow angels. Edward was still throwing it up into the air. They laughed together as they enjoyed their White Christmas.

*| : - { ) }

"Renee, have you seen Bella and Edward? It's getting late and we still have to get a tree tomorrow," Esme asked downstairs.

"I thought they were watching movies in the play room."

"I was just there, and they're not."

"Bella! Edward! Come downstairs! Edward has to go home!" Renee shouted up the stairway.

No response.

"Bella sweetie, hiding Edward doesn't mean he's going to stay longer. Both of you come downstairs right now!"

Still no response.

"Quit your yelling, I'll go get them," Charlie grunted, getting out of his chair and going upstairs.

A few minutes later he came back down.

"Renee, this is your problem. You go upstairs and get them."

Renee, Esme and Carlisle looked at each other and then up the stairs. They were pretty quiet, considering last year's mess.

"I'll come with you," Esme offered.

The two women went upstairs where they heard muffled laughing coming from Renee's craft room.

"What are they doing in there? I just cleaned!"

She slowly opened the door. Bella and Edward were throwing Styrofoam beads into the air. They had gotten into everything. Little white beads were stuck to the walls, the drapes, all around her craft table and chairs, and into the shelves where she had put her things away.

Renee was speechless. What do you say, when your children do something this crazy?

Bella saw her mom and smiled. "Look, mom! It's snowing!"

Clearly she was far more pleased with her endeavors than Renee was.

"So it is. Edward, your dad and I want to go home soon. I'll come back and get you when we're ready, okay," Esme said softly

"Okay mom," Edward responded happily.

Esme and Renee looked at each other, closed the door the door quietly and walked back downstairs. Charlie was sitting down in the recliner, a whiskey in hand. The two women spontaneously started into fits of laughter.

"I don't know why you think that's funny," Charlie grumbled. "How the hell do you think we're going to clean that up?"

"What is so funny?" Carlisle asked.

Esme settled down just long enough to respond, "Take a look for yourself!"

Carlisle went upstairs and a few minutes later he came back down. He looked at Charlie and went over to the kitchen to pour himself a drink and sit down next to him.

"I don't suppose you know anyone with a shop-vac?" Carlisle asked.

Charlie was quiet for a moment. Their wives were still laughing and Renee was trying to figure out where she'd put the camera.

"You know, I think Billy over on the Res has one," he responded.

"You should probably give him a call."

*| : - { ) }

No joke, my brother and his best friend did this in his bedroom when he was around this age. It was in summer so they had their clothes off and were sliding around in their underwear. He had a pretty big room then so he needed SEVEN BEANBAG CHAIRS to fill the room. My mom had a thing for them when we were little. They were awesome. After this event, we no longer had beanbag chairs. I kinda want a few now…

We had to shower them to get all of the little beads off of them from the static cling, and you can probably still find those little buggers around the house if you look hard enough (15 years later). Most of them are in the washer/drier now.

So that's my story! Tell me yours and they might be included in this fic! It's like a collab with not just me but all of you! I do have a loose plan for what will happen each year, but if your story is better, I will definitely change it! I love hearing your stories and what you think. I haven't done one of these in A WHILE, and had completely forgotten about the review high. See you tomorrow!


	3. December 18, 1993

I know this is late, but I went out shopping and to the movies with my mommy. We had fun. I am now the proud owner of some awesome lace shorts that will look so fantastic over my fleece lined tights. And go see _Silver Linings Playbook_ before you can't anymore. It's so fantastic I've seen it twice. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence have GREAT chemistry in this movie.

And then just when I was going to post this, my internet crapped out. Hard lines and everything. I blame my brother. All the internet stuff is in his room. "He needs the hard lines for his gaming." And then I cracked my screen tripping over something in the dark. But brother gave me one of his spare monitors today so I can still use my computer! Yay me! I have a laptop that works like a desktop, with a quarter the power! Unfortunately this means I might not be as consistent with my postings as I thought I was going to be. I hate technology.

Love the response and all your stories! They're great! This one didn't happen to me, but I was looking at top Christmas presents of the past twenty years, and this one made it to the list, and I couldn't help but include it. It was just too funny. It's a little shorter than usual (I have a usual?), but definitely more of the length I was thinking they would be. Although once they get older, they might be a bit longer. IDK, MY BFF JILL?

Reminder: Bella's 6 and Edward's 8

*| : - { ) }

December 18, 1993

Edward came in and took off his boots as usual, clinging tightly to a grocery bag filled with little cardboard discs. Esme didn't really understand what the big deal about it was, but they were cheap enough that she wasn't about to complain.

"Bella! My cousin Emmett gave me some of his POGS! One of em's even a limited edition!" Edward shouted the minute he saw Bella in the living room.

"What are POGS?" Bella asked, confused at why this was so amazing.

"What are POGS? They are like the sweetest game ever. Here, I'll show you how to play."

Edward sat down on the ground and started stacking the little round disks up into a pile face down. After they were all stacked to his liking, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic disk that looked just like the other ones.

"Okay, so now you throw this slammer down onto the POGS. The ones that are face up, you get to keep. We take turns doing that until there aren't any left."

"I don't get it."

"Just play it with me. I promise, it's way sweeter than it sounds," Edward pleaded.

Bella wasn't really looking forward to watching the same old Christmas movies they watched every year, so she agreed. It wouldn't kill her.

*| : - { ) }

"Dude! How do you do that?" Edward exclaimed.

"I just did what you told me to do," Bella shrugged. She was far more interested on the pictures each of them had than playing the game.

"But I'm all out of POGS! I just got these, Bella. Did you have to take all of them?"

At that, Bella felt a bit bad. She had taken away his "limited edition" one early on in the evening, and he hadn't been the same since.

"They're not mine, they're yours. I can get my own."

"No. That's not how it works. If you win them, you keep them."

"Well than can we play again, but you try to win them back?" Bella offered.

The look on Edward's face suggested he wasn't very thrilled with this idea.

"I really only want the bunny ones. They're cute."

*| : - { ) }

"You better watch it, Carlisle. That's the makings of a degenerate gambler if I've ever seen one," Charlie commented.

"I'm just glad we got him to take them home instead of win them back," Carlisle replied.

*| : - { ) }

That's it! How many of you remember POGS?! I admit, I didn't really get them. I was like Bella, enjoying the pictures (the holograph ones were the best) more than the game. There will likely be another one with Pokemon cards. That shit's just too funny to pass up.

Again, hope you enjoyed it. I know it's not very steamy now, but they're still kids. Give them a few more years before stupid things like hormones start to get in the way of things and screw everything up. Let me know what you thought and share your own childhood stories and Christmas traditions. They might be featured in this fic! See ya tomorrow!


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